I Love You This Big
by r2roswell
Summary: SPOILER WARNING: Uses spoilers from an upcoming episode.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: I Love You This Big**

Summary: Based off a spoiler for The Secret Life of the American Teenager

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the show in anyway. This is only a fan interpretation.

_One week earlier._

Ricky Underwood took a deep breath as he stood outside the Juergens front door. For a month he had been thinking about this and now that the moment was here, he couldn't help but feel nervous about it. It would have been easy for him to just walk on in like he owned the place but he wanted to do everything the right way and that included getting invited in.

He looked at the doorbell, took a deep breath and told himself, "Okay Ricky, here goes nothing." He pressed the doorbell, pulled back and waited.

He took a step back when it was Anne who opened the door. She was spending time at the house a lot but it wasn't really anyone's business, she had a son with George so it made sense.

"Ricky," Anne said with a smile, letting Ricky walk in. "You didn't have to ring the doorbell you're always welcome to come in."

"I know," Ricky said with more nerves than he had anticipated. "It just seemed more appropriate to ring the doorbell."

"Ricky is everything okay? You know Amy and John aren't here right now."

"I know, they're with my moms. I told her I would meet her there later since I had to take care of something first."

"What's going on Ricky?"

Ricky whipped his un-sweaty palms on his jeans. "I was maybe hoping if I could talk to you and Mr. Juergens for a minute."

"Sure, he's in the kitchen, come on back."

Ricky smiled and nodded as he followed Anne to the kitchen.

"Hey," said George. "I thought I heard you. Why'd you ring the doorbell instead of come in like always?"

"Coming in on my own didn't feel right."

"You okay, Rick? You're not sick or something are you? My boys' in his room and you know germs can travel."

"No I'm not sick," Ricky said assuring George. "Not physically anyways," he added to himself. "I actually wanted to come by and talk to you both about Amy or Amy and me actually."

"Oh no," said George. "You two aren't breaking up are you? I mean I know some relationships don't work out but you two, kind of have a good thing going as much as I hate to admit it."

"No we're not breaking up," said Ricky getting a little defensive.

"George," Anne said, "stop jumping to conclusions and let him talk, please."

George placed his hands on the counter with his back leaning on it. "Alright, so what's on your mind my boy?"

"Normally I would just do what I want to do but I know how much Amy loves and respects you both and so do I, I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't. You two have helped us so much and you've also let Amy be happy, more happy than she's been in a long time. I know we're young and I know we did everything backwards. Tradition is that you should date, get married, then have a baby but maybe breaking tradition doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"Okay," said George not sure where he was going with this.

"Having John is one of the best things to ever happen to me. And I know, teens shouldn't have babies in high school and considering my life it just seemed like one screw up after another but my son helped open me up to something I never thought was possible: love. I love my son and I love Amy in a way I never thought I could love a woman. I've never told anyone this, I've never told Amy this but back at band camp, Amy wasn't just another fling for me. I wanted to try and have a real relationship with her. I even told her that but after band camp she ran away. It wasn't until school started that I found out why. I don't blame her for running, I wanted to run too, I tried to run but I couldn't.

I can't imagine my life without Amy or John and I don't want to which is why I'm here right now, talking to the two of you. I love your daughter, in some way I always have. She's helped me become a better man, the kind of man I never thought of or intended of becoming." Ricky looked down and started smiling to himself. "She gives me strength and even when she doesn't say anything I can feel the love she has for me radiate off her. She's one of the best people I know. I was drawn to her years ago and even now she draws me in. She makes me feel like I can be anything and I've never felt that way with anyone but her."

Ricky looked up at the Juergens. "I know we're young and that we were young when we got pregnant but I'm asking, if not for your blessing then for you permission. Will you give me your permission to marry your daughter?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II:**

George and Anne both took a deep breath. Neither of them knew what to say.

"Guess I should've seen that one coming," said George being the first to speak up. "Have you talked to you parents about this?"

Ricky shook his head, "Not yet I wanted to talk to you first."

"Well," said George, "Guess I can appreciate you for that."

"It was very considerate of you Ricky," said Anne. "I've never had a problem with your relationship with Amy but are you sure about this? Why not wait a bit, go to college, see how that works and then consider getting married."

"I've thought about that and it sounds okay in theory but this is Amy and I we're talking about. I love your daughter and I want to be with her for the rest of my life and only with her. I've never felt this sure about anything before."

"What about making a commitment," said George. "Are you ready for that? Can you honestly stand there and say with a straight face that you want to spend the rest of your life with one person? You know we could be talking the next 60, 70 or 80 years."

"George," Anne said scolding him.

"I'm just saying, the rest of your life is a very, very long time," he said with a smile.

Ricky smiled but more to himself. "I'm not afraid anymore. With Amy I don't need to be."

George took a deep breath. "Alright so when were you planning on um… propo… asking Amy to… asking Amy the million dollar question?"

"I was thinking at my graduation. Amy and I don't like to make a big deal with things but I think that's part of what will make it special. She won't really be expecting it."

"In a week," George said, his voice coming off a little more strongly than he anticipated. "Sorry son but don't you think you should have given us the warning much sooner?" Ricky just shrugged. George took a deep breath. "Look Ricky, I know we've had our differences. You're not the kind of guy I imagined for my daughter but you have become a good man. You're good with my grandson and you're good to my Amy. I guess that's all I can really ask for. You just have to know something, she's my little Amy and she always will be."

"But she's not a little girl anymore George," said Anne.

"She'll always be my little Amy," George said defending his love for his daughter. "So you can understand why I'm a little hesitant to let her go."

Ricky nodded in some understanding. Though he didn't have a daughter, he still could not imagine letting go of his son.

"And as much as that hurts," said George, "You have my permission to marry Amy."

Ricky released a breath he had long been holding. "Thank you."

George and Ricky looked at Anne. She shrugged with a smile. "You have mine too." Anne walked over and hugged Ricky, "Welcome to the family."

Ricky smiled and replied. "Thanks."

George shook Ricky's hand, "Just don't call me dad just yet, wait a couple years, it's still hard being called a grandpa, I'm too young."

"Thank you Mr. Juergens."

"Ricky, just call me George from now on, saying Mr. Juergens makes you sound like a kid."

"George would you stop?" said Anne trying to hold back a laugh. "Just call us by our first names."

Ricky nodded. "I can do that. And again, thank you."

"Just be good to my Amy and that will be all the thanks we need," George said nodding at Ricky and Ricky smiled at them both.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: This bit uses a couple minor spoilers from an upcoming episode. I do not own certain lines (if you've read what I'm talking about then you'll know the lines I'm referring to), so be prepared._

**Chapter III:**

Ricky was fixing his suit as he looked himself in the mirror to make sure everything looked okay. He hated wearing suits but it wasn't for him, today was a special day and not just because it was graduation day. He heard a knock on the door, pulled his suit one more time and went to go open it.

When he opened the door Amy Juergens stood before him in a blue summer dress. Her hair was pulled up but not too tight, a streak of hair hung down a little curled across her face. She looked absolutely stunning. Ricky sometimes wondered how he ever could be so lucky. He liked to tell himself that he would have still fallen for her had she not gotten pregnant and no doubt he would have since he had this beautiful woman standing in his doorway whom he had loved since band camp. He wouldn't even have known or remembered that she had been pregnant had it not been for Amy looking down to the hand that she was holding. There his son stood, right beside his mother in a small black suit much like his own.

"Hi John," Ricky said finally breaking the silence of reverie. "You ready to go see daddy graduate?"

John just nodded having possibly no idea what graduation was as he made his way to some toys lying in the living room. Ricky focused his attention towards Amy as he let the two of them in.

"You look beautiful Amy."

"Thank you. You look handsome, Ricky. So are you ready for today, it's another big step for you."

Ricky took Amy in his arms. "Not just for me, for us. I've told you, graduation doesn't change anything. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know that, I know that now."

"Do you?"

"Yes I do." It killed Ricky to hear those words coming from her mouth. Maybe in a few months he would hear them again and that next time it would be words that meant forever. "I will admit it scared me at first but I know how committed you are and not just to John but to me as well. It would scare me if I ever lost you."

"You won't lose me Amy, I promise. Let's just take today as one moment at a time."

Amy nodded, "You're right. This is your day. I want you to be happy Ricky and I'm really proud of you."

"Thank you Amy, that means a lot coming from you."

And it did. It was different when adults said they were proud of him. He sometimes brushed it off as if it was something they were supposed to say even if they weren't really but with Amy he could feel the words flowing off her as they entered his core and filled his every being with strength.

Amy wrapped her arms around Ricky's neck. "Well I've always believed in you. I love you Ricky, and I always will."

"I love you too Amy, more than you know."

The two of them leaned in as they kissed one another. It took them for what seemed like forever to come up for air.

"Well," said Amy, "I um… I guess we should get going."

"Yeah, we probably should…" Ricky said kissing Amy's neck. "Get going."

Amy laughed, "Not now, Ricky, do you want your son to be scarred for life?" Amy leaned in and whispered in his ear, "We'll have plenty of time later."

"You're right," said Ricky. "We will."

He smiled and the two released each other. Ricky walked over to his son and picked him up. "Let's get this show on the road buddy."

Amy, John and her family all found seating next to Margaret, Shakur, and Nora. The seating wasn't too far from the main podium and somewhat close to see Ricky seated in the back on the ground level on the right side close to the edge. Roughly 50 students were graduating.

"Where's daddy John," Amy asked. "Where's daddy?"

Ricky waved making it easy for his son to point him out. John smiled.

The vice principal of the school, Chafin, took the podium. "Welcome family and friends to a night that we hope will forever be in your memories. As the vice principle of the Grant High School Magnet School for the past sixteen years I've watched a lot of students pass through the hallways and leave this campus. Sometimes with joy, sometimes with sorrow but I have never really gotten close to the students until the class of 2011 came around and boy did their dirty secrets shine."

People laughed, some of the students felt embarrassed.

"But enough about that," said Chafin. "Tonight I am here to present you with this year's salutatorian. He is a star both in and out of the classroom. He has been a great force on our football team and despite his flaws he has shown a leadership well beyond his years. I would like to present to you, the salutatorian for the class of 2011, Jack Pappas."

Jack took a deep breath before standing up and walking over to the podium. "Thank you vice principal Chafin. This would normally be the part where we say a prayer but I think as everyone knows, I've broken one of the main rules in the Bible and I'm pretty sure not everyone here is a Christian so I'll just be skipping that part. Feel free to pray silently though by all means. Let me just say this, without the help of prayer who knows where I would be, it sure wouldn't be here and for that I would like to thank my parents. Thanks for loving me, supporting me, and praying for me

Family and friends, welcome. Though you might not know it, the graduating class of 2011 is happy to have you all here. Our lives have been challenging and not just for us but I would imagine for you as well. You've had to stick by us through every mistake and there have been a lot of them. You've given us lectures and sometimes pep talks and when we wouldn't listen you would force those down our throats again and again until it sunk it. Believe me, they sunk in, we just refused to listen."

The crowd laughed.

"We'll we're listening now, at least I am. If we weren't then there would be no sense to this graduation ceremony since many of us probably wouldn't be here. We hope that tonight shows to you that we have listened and despite all the pain and aggravation we've caused you over the years at least this is one moment where you can say to the neighbor next door, 'Hey that's my kid and I'm proud of him or her.' So welcome and thanks for being here tonight, it really means a lot."

Vice principal Chafin took the podium. "Thank you for your kind words Mr. Pappas. And now it is with great honor that I present to you this year's class valedictorian, a young man with a 4.2 GPA and outstanding SAT scores. He is a leader in the band room though he would never admit it, and a man who claims he never intended on going to college and yet has received multiple scholarship offers. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the stage Ricky Underwood."

Ricky took the podium. "Thank you Mr. Chafin and in all honesty I really never planned to go to college."

The crowd laughed and Amy just smiled.

"For four years we have gone about our lives here at Grant High and as Mr. Chafin said, our dirty secrets did shine. Sometimes that was a good thing because it helped us understand each other, sometimes it was a bad thing because there are some of us who want our privacy, other times it was just downright annoying because it felt like the whole world knows everything and in all honesty, who wants that?

My life is no surprise to anyone. I remember actually being excited for school because that meant time away from home and so every year for the past twelve years I excelled at school because I knew, even at age five I knew that I did not want the kind of lives my parents had. I did not want to be like them and I'm not like them. It wasn't easy. You all know the kind of person I am. I've hurt people during my road to recovery and sorry doesn't feel like enough.

Thanks to my adoptive parents and thanks to the help I've had along the way I've been able to put the past behind me and to me that's what high school is. We may drive our parents insane most of the time but without their guidance we wouldn't be able to stand on our own two feet and we wouldn't be standing here today, in my case I could've ended up dead.

Before I leave this podium and take my seat with my graduating class, I have one more person I would like to thank: my girlfriend, Amy Juergens,"

Ricky said looking up at her and John. He smiled at her when he saw the shocked expression her face. Some of the students also noticed George Juergens shift a little in his seat. No one but the parents, the Juergens and the adoptive parents knew what was going on. The administrators knew of Ricky's plans to talk directly to Amy at the graduation ceremony but as far as anything else went, they knew nothing.

"You all know the story but what you don't know is how she changed my life that day and it wasn't only because of our son. Amy, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you walking in formation on that field with that big old French horn of yours. And even though our lives took a different turn, I strongly believe that I would have been with had John not been born. I mean it Amy. You're kind and generous and people know that but what people might not know is how only you understand me. It took my family and therapist years to break down my barriers and even now they still have a hard time but somehow you slipped in, in your shy and quiet way. You get me in a way that no one else can and every day I'm grateful that it was you. I wouldn't want anyone else. You've given me a life Amy and I'll always cherish that. I love you, more than you know."

"I love you too," Amy whispered despite the tears flowing down her face.

The graduation ceremony continued with another speech and then the handing out of diplomas. When Ricky's name was read out he walked to the stage. When he got his rolled diploma he used it like a drum stick and tapped in thin air. Amy cheered for him and helped John clap. The little boy was all smiles to see his daddy.

Vice principal Chafin took the podium with Ricky by his side. "Now," he said, "Before we end tonight's commencement, I've been told by our valedictorian that I need to make a special request: Amy Juergens would you please approach?"

Amy looked at her parents and at Ricky's parents with confusion. "What's going on," she asked them.

No one said a thing.

"Dad?"

"I know nothing."

"Yeah right, you're as bad a liar as I am?"

"Just go Amy," said Anne. "Everyone's waiting. Here I'll take John," she said lifting her grandson from her daughter's arms.

Amy looked at the families one more time knowing she would not get anything out of them so she made her way down to the podium. Just as she reached the stage, her eyes widened when she saw Ricky go down on one knee and pull out a black velvet box.

"Amy Juergens," he said with a smile. "Would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Amy didn't know what to say. So many emotions and thoughts were running through her mind but those thoughts she figured she could hold off. She nodded and then found her voice, "Yes. Yes Ricky, I'll marry you."

Ricky and Amy both smiled as he slipped the ring on her left hand finger. He then stood up and the two of them kissed passionately, not carrying that their friends and family were watching. They could hear the clapping but that didn't stop them. Not even Mr. Chafin could stop them when he got to the mike to congratulate the class of 2011. They were in their own little world and nothing else mattered but this moment. A moment that would be remembered forever, besides, how many girls could say their boyfriend proposed at high school graduation?

**~*END*~**


	4. Author's Notes

**Author's Note Section:**

Just some fun little factoids that I'm trying to include more so in my fanfics.

1. The story idea came from some accurate spoilers I read.

2. I did not want to include the Jack Pappas speech. I wanted to get down to the good stuff but I figured I would do honor to the spoilers and include it. If it were up to me though, it wouldn't have been in there but what kind of graduation would that have been, honestly?

3. My story titles usually come from some kind of quote or song lyrics. This one came from song lyrics (read playlist).

**The Playlist:**

I Love You This Big by Scotty McCreery

Wonderwall by Ryan Adams


End file.
